The meaning of the civil war changed from race to reunion because over time reconstruction focused more on unity between the North and South than the rights for slaves turned ex-slaves. An example of these lopsided views can be seen in Blight’s Race and Reunion, “On some level, both had to occur; but given the potency of racial assumptions and power in nineteenth-century America, these two aims never developed in historical balance.” (Blight, 3) After the Civil War the popular idea for some time was “Radical Republicanism” This was a desire to help the slaves as much as possible and to try and make sure the confederates got what they deserved (less rights). Over time the powers in government shifted, and with it the popular idea shifted as well. For a sweet period of time it seemed like the US was heading down a path of racial equality, but alas, the path diverged into a not-as-reluctant readmission of the union and blacks seemed to be pushed aside.…show more content… The biggest issue of justice was the rights of blacks. This was the main focus/goal in the beginning of reconstruction, but it eventually fell toward healing the union. Blacks were pushed aside and the main issue became reunion instead of race. One big factor for this was the compromise of 1877. This was a way to ensure both sides were happy with the presidency, “The Democrats reluctantly agreed that Hayes might take office in return for his withdrawing intimidating federal troops from the two states in which they remained Louisiana and South Carolina.” (Bailey, 546) The biggest effect of this was the removal of troops in the south. This was the last piece in a precarious jenga game that was the government’s stance on racial equality. After this point, it went downhill for the ex-slaves for quite a bit of time. They had been silently abandoned and many republicans were now questioning the worth of helping the
